by Curtis Edmonds -- blueduck@hsbr.org
I walked into the second Austin Powers movie prepared to write a scathingly bad review. I was ready to deploy my army of poison pens -- er, make that poison pixels -- in opposition to the overwhelming, shattering avalanche of stupidity I knew to be coming. I entered the theater totally prepared for a never-ending cycle of potty jokes, sniggering references to body parts, and gags drawn out far enough past their normal life expectancy to make an actuary cry. And I wasn't a bit disappointed.
Most people who liked the first Austin Powers movie won't be disappointed, either. Mike Myers dons the geeky glasses, the dead-weasel hairpiece, the horribly bad bridgework, the fake chestal hair, the frilly lace cravat and the velvet suit to duel Dr. Evil and save the world yet again. Along the way -- and this is the sort of movie where "along the way" matters more than anything else -- Austin mugs, grimaces, shags, cavorts around naked, and generally acts annoying. Alternatively, the movie presents Myers as Dr. Evil, who combines the worst features of Ernst Blofeld and Ed Sullivan. I am not inclined to argue with people who think these characters are funny, and will merely state that this sort of thing ain't my bag, baby.
If the Powers and Evil characters share one trait, it is their mammoth, gargantuan narcissism. The real battle in The Spy Who Shagged Me isn't between the forces of evil and good, it's between Myers's ego and his generosity. This movie could easily have been a Mike Myers extravaganza of self love, with all other comic possibilities squeezed out. Fortunately, though, the forces of good make some inroads here that weren't made in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. The Spy Who Shagged Me is a better movie because Myers is a little more willing to share the wealth and spread out the good lines more evenly. This allows the focus to be taken off the Powers/Evil duality occasionally and allows a little bit of genuine humor to sneak in now and then.
Consider the treatment of the female leads in both movies. Elizabeth Hurley was perfectly cast as Austin's sidechick in the first movie (she's the perfect casting choice for every movie she's ever been in) but the spotlight wasn't really ever on Our Liz. Hurley shows up momentarily in The Spy Who Shagged Me and is generously given one of the truly funny lines in the movie -- not much, but one more than she had before.
In comparison, the lovely Heather Graham as CIA agent Felicity Shagwell redeems the entire movie. In a movie season replete with special effects, the sight of Heather Graham in a micro-miniskirt is still the best piece of eye candy around. Felicity is smart, dangerous, absolutely ravishing, and has a way with the sexy one liner. "You're light on your feet," Austin raves as they dance. "I'm pretty light off my feet, too," says the shagadelic Felicity, in a tone calculated to make a man's knees turn to jelly. This is Heather Graham's happening, baby, and it's groovy, man.
Seth Green had a marginal part in the first movie as Scott Evil, but he stole the show with his criticism of his old man's megalomaniacal ways. Green gets a little more time to shine here, imparting a little bit of Generation X common sense to the Sixties silliness. There's still too strong of a strain of whiny brat in his performance, but he's got the adolescent sneer down pat. When Dr. Evil dubs his newest plan to destroy the world "The Alan Parsons Project", Green is there to poke wicked fun; "I can't wait for Project Bananarama."
Unfortunately, the wealth isn't shared all that equally. Rob Lowe, who was so good in Wayne's World, is well-cast as a young Robert Wagner but gets little to do. (One wishes that Wayne Campbell would make a cameo appearance, if only to remind us how babelicious Heather Graham is.) Kristen Johnson disappears in the second reel, which is too bad -- she's got the Natasha Fatale accent down pat.
I thought The Spy Who Shagged Me was quite a bit funnier than the original. Most of the comedy takes place below the waist, but now and again there's a funny bit that provides a respite from the onslaught of bathroom and sex jokes. It's still not that great, though. (The biggest reaction I heard from the audience was when Austin's own Willie Nelson showed up in a cameo.) Your inner fifteen-year-old will be happy to see see The Spy Who Shagged Me, but those looking for more sophisticated humor should stay away and avoid further disappointment.
-- Curtis D. Edmonds blueduck@hsbr.org
"First, you show up. Then you see what happens."
-- Napoleon Bonaparte
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews